Madeleine McCann: Blonde Child Seen In Morocco
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.
DAILY MAIL front page: “Could this be Maddie?”
Readers see a picture of a child being carried on a woman’s back - “The intriguing picture being probed by Interpol.”
Pages 10 and 11: “Could this really be Maddie?”
This is the picture of a girl “in the clutches of a group of Moroccans”. The picture was taken four weeks ago near Tangiers by Spaniard Clara Torres.
DAILY MIRROR front page: “MADDY IN MOROCCO?”
Readers see the same picture. The Full “astonishing story” is on pages 4 and 5.
Pages 4 and 5: “COULD IT BE?” Less the full story than another question.
“GERRY: I KNOW WE WILL BE CLEARED” – Gerry McCann says he and his wife “wanted to be eliminated from the enquiry as quickly as possible”. Some news.
THE SUN front page: “MOROCCO PHOTO SENSATION. IS THIS MADDIE?”
The picture is “sensational”. It has been described as “convincing”, but by whom is not said.
Pages 4 and 5: “GERRY & KATE: IT COULD BE HER – MADDIE PARENTS HOPE AT SIGHTING SENSATION.”
Clara Torres is talking on Spanish radio. She looks at the photo. Says she: “It sent shivers down my spine.”
DAILY EXPRESS front page: “NOW A ‘PHOTO’ OF MADELEINE IN MOROCCO.”
‘Photo’ is placed in quotes lest readers mistake the picture for a ‘SNAP’ or a ‘SHOT’.
Spanish Government official Jose Herrero Arcas says: “The National Police received a photograph by email taken by a young Spanish couple who believe it shows Madeleine McCann. The quality of the photograph is not very clear and it was taken from around 200 metres away. However, the National Police are taking the claim seriously enough to have sent it on to their colleagues at Interpol. I cannot give any more information than that.”
DAILY STAR front page: “MADDIE – AMAZING PHOTO IN MOROCCO.”
Pages 4 and 5: “MADDIE SEEN IN MOROCCO – Bombshell new photo is probed by Interpol.”
THE TIMES front page: “Police start investigation into ‘picture in Morocco of Madeleine McCann’.”
Page 5: “New photograph shows child like Madeleine on African woman’s back.”
A source close to the McCanns tells one and all: “The McCanns are not going to get their hopes up until the photograph has been sent for forensic examination.” And, dare it be said, a DNA test.
DAILY TELEGRAPH front page: “Is this Madeleine in Morocco?” The search for the missing child has taken a “dramatic turn”.
Page 9: “Gerry McCann is “confident” he and his wife will be cleared. A source tells us: “It is very unlikely that British police would question the McCanns on behalf of the Portuguese now.”
Robert Murat responds to claims by nanny Charlotte Pennington that on the night of Madeleine’s disappearance he was by the McCann family apartment: “I certainly was not there that night. At no point was I there.”
THE GUARDIAN & THE INDEPENDENT no Maddy news today.
Posted: 26th, September 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,153) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
September 26th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
The Franciscan speaks a lot of truth.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
664 Simon
the thing about the priest giving the keys to the church is a bit dubious.
I mean, has anyone of you EVER have been given a key to a church ON HOLIDAY? No matter how catholic you are, I just think it’s strange. And this priest is either missing or still doing mass. I don’t know, it just sounds weird. Where is this person, and when is he going to be interviewd by the police?
September 26th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Blimey Miss Canada -sorry to have touched a nerve - perhaps you do speak for a whole country. Carry on
September 26th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
642/644 keepcopshonest
In today’s article you linked, I thought this paragraph would be interesting to share:
“A source close to the McCanns’ legal team has confirmed the involvement of Control Risks Group (CRG), but insisted that it is simply providing advice on the search for Madeleine. He said: “You can assume that they are doing some things that the Portuguese police can’t do.” Private investigators unconnected to CRG are believed to be already working in Morocco, Portugal and Spain.”
I read in another article today assurances from someone (Clarence Mitchell?) from the McCann camp that say their private investigators were NOT operating in Portugal (to avoid appearance of breaking Portuguese law prohibiting using private investigators). Does anyone else remember reading that?
Whoever connected the word ‘Armada’ with the McCanns was right. Professional spokesperson, top-notch high paid legal team of 4, CRG advisors, private investigators, top-level government connections….
The comments that CRG is advising the McCanns confirms what other posters have suggested–that they are probably trying to help the McCanns defend themselves rather than search for Madeleine.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
666 My money’s on the priest saving his soul.
These religious types have very long term plans. Good for them!
September 26th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
662. No, he can’t tell. Not ever. And I don’t know any Priest who would even think of it.
There is however a problem with overhearing. If the next person waiting to confess hears, they don’t have to say silent. A lot of village gossip gets out that way.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
653 - You are absolutely wrong. It is the teachings of Jesus Christ to protect children at all costs. Not to hide behind the cloth - a shroud of deceit and lies.
You are enabling the shroud of secrecy to protect perpetrators. And that is what has put the Catholic Church in so much turmoil in the past and today.
You claim to be Catholic, and a child protection services worker in your past life. But you do not understand the true teachings of Jesus Christ and Catholicism if you are fool enough to believe that it’s acceptable to hide the truth about a child who is missing or perhaps murdered.
No my dear, it is the contrary. It is a fast ticket to the pearly white gates of heaven to guide this very lost and tragic couple into salvation and redemption on Earth. Not to cover up their secret, and run away and hide in a cloistered setting for the rest of his life. Confession and redemption go hand in hand.
Father Pacheco, the world is looking at YOU Father to do the right thing. You must guide and persuade the McCanns to come forward and confess everything they know to the world. Everything that happened that night. If they will not do it, then it is up to you to do it. You can set the world free by doing this. And Madeliene’s soul can be safely protected in heaven where she will await her family and provide them with the forgiveness for admitting to the world, their shameful accidental killing of thier little girl. Madeleine can forgive if her parents can confess the truth. They will have to pay for their mistakes but there is a way out from a life of guilt and self-hatred. Forgiveness starts with the truth.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
McModeration:
If the priest knows that the crime has been committed and persists in supporting the cover-up then he’s an accessory after the fact and must face the legal consequences.
Only Catholics think that they are above the Law.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
653. And what do you mean if you saw them with the whole Rosary? I do the whole Rosary every Wednesday before mass along with everyone else in the building. We’re not doing it as a penance.
You are supposed to try and do the whole thing at least once a day.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
651 Indeed!
So, what would a priest be able to do if he realised a couple of English folk who had taken him into their trust and to whom he had given a spare set of church keys happened to store a body in a cool part of the church for a little while?
September 26th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
649
But, it what you say is true, the confessional hardly a cone of silent then - any priest who is thought may have taken a confessional would simply be asked by the press and even, coppers with any brains, he is able to say anything about what be suspected ones told him and whether he believes in them- if he says sure I stand shoulder to shoulder with them then fine, but if he simply says err cannot say anything, then he is damning them by his silence.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
657 But he can’t tell, or even infer, can he?
September 26th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
652 Harry Hind Sight
Wtf ! Did I do something personal to you, NO! You are quite judgemental, little boy. I can choose whatever handle I f***ing want, get out of my business.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
If any of you have a noticed a slight reduction in the amount of spin and bullshite emanating from the mccann factory today, please let me assure you that a source[guy who lived in the same town as a guy who went to school with a postman who bought a dog of a dwarf that is reputed to have looked up the word mccann in an encyclopaedia] has assured me that this because the factory is now focussing of the christmas bullshit market in order to improve fourth quarter profitability.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
650 Simon
I don’t think the priest can do anything, without breaking his own vows, other than encouraging the confessor(s) to admit their guilt to the authorities. If people knew that their priest would tell their secrets to the authorities, et al., that would inhibit people from seeking forgiveness through confession. (Based on my rusty knowledge of the Catholic Church, which I left many, many years ago).
September 26th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
648 Moderation, I appreciate that. Didn’t thinkI was cracking up.
649 I love a good yarn as much as the next man, but don’t you think this is the wrong subject in which to go spinning?
September 26th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
653. Penance is not always prayer. The priest can and will ask you to make reparation to a victim or volunteer for a charity or go to the police.
It’s mostly prayer, but it doesn’t have to be.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
650 I think you just answered my question.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
645 brandoflour
‘A priest would still be by their side if totally innocent’
Why is this priest so hard to find?
September 26th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
637 - You need to re-read my post # 635 regarding Children. The answer to your question is right in my post. And yes, I am a Catholic so please do not barrage me with insults or attacks.
I am a peaceful, forgiving, soul who is looking to help the McCanns heal through prayer. If that means revealing a very dark and ugly truth, then that is up to Father Pacheco to guide them forward to that. When a child is mising/abducted/murdered a priest has a moral obligation to reveal what he knows. NOT take it to the grave with him. Children are the first priority in Jesus’s world.
That is true Catholicism.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
650 Nothing. The confidentiality of the confessional is the lychpin of Catholicism…
The priest can’t tell them what to… he could of course suggest, but penance is always prayer.
Even if he knew one of his parishoners had killed Madeleine and the McCanns were convited he still couldn’t speak out. Its not selective.
Oh yes… how well I remember the five Hail Marys we used to get dished out as kids! priests are not known for originality of penance. If someone sat there with the whole rosary we knew they’d been really bad!
——————
Mods and Admin
5 hail mary’s!!! you bad child you, we got 3
September 26th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Canada,
Do you see yourself as the authorised spokeman/person (because I assume you are a woman) of all right thinking Canadians.
If not, perhaps you should adopt a less comprehensive handle e.g one [small/ordinary/small town/wittering/mothering] Canadian etc-
September 26th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
650. Threaten them with the fires of hell.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
645 Thanks for that.
So theoretically, if the McCanns told the priest that they had killed Maddie, and the priest asked them to tell the police, but they didn’t
what can the priest do??
September 26th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
636 - if he has no useful info, and all he knows is that the McCanns appeared very upset, should he make a statement to stop all of this speculation about confessions etc.
Absolutely. Yes he should come forward and say that he knows nothing. Worse than hiding the truth, is lying to the public. If he has nothing to hide, then there is no reason he cannot go before the public and say exactly that; Look the world in the eye, of the camera, and say exactly 1000% what he knows.
I would bet my life on the fact that he knows much and is revealing nothing at this moment in time. The parents went to him that first night, and were devastated that they were not able to get in to see him til the next day. The first night of a child’s disappearance is spent searching everywhere for her. Not desperately trying to get in to see your priest. Abnormal behavior.
However, when a child dies, no matter how it happens, the first thing a religious/devout Catholic does is to seek out a cleryman to pray for the soul of the child as it has parted this world. And if they had involvement, to pray for their own soul’s as well. This is Normal behavior.
If Father Pacheco comes forward and says what he knows, then the McCanns and he can be free. They have the opportunity at their feet today, to be forgiven if they have involvement here and know where Madeleine is. If they don’t, Father Pacheco can come forward and say he knows absolutely nothing about what has happened to Madeleine.
If he can do this, I believe he will turn a lot of people into McCann supporters.
If he cannot do this, as I believe he cannot, then he continues to participate and perpetuate the crime.
———————-
Mods and Admin
I’m a complete lapsed RC, but do remember the confessional is absolutely secret, he cannot say anything, whether they have confessed or not. Part of the secrecy is that the confessor is anonymous.
Its part of the burden of being clergy I would say. He can only encourage anyone who confesses such serious events to confess publicly.
But he does NOT participate or perpetuate the crime, the offender who the crime did does that.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Simon, not a word said in the confessional can be repeated either for or against. Not even an inference. If the priest knew that it was NOT the McCanns he still couldn’t say.
Take no notice of that cods about St Francis… he was nothing to with children anyway!!!!!!!!!!! (Patron saint of animals)
Its someone taking the pi*s.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
632
Moderation
Wow, you sure had me fooled. Now to figure out mods and admins.
I have to rush and cook dinner or I’d get the links, but the latest news identifies the girl in the picture. Nope, not Madeleine.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
644 Alright I heard you the first time
September 26th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
637
He’s not allowed to divulge what was said
but unless they do as he said
as in confess
he can refuse to support them
and a priest would still be by their side if totally innocent
actions speak louder than words
thats why they went anglican just after pope visit i spose
even though the weekly walk of love to church is going on
September 26th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Times has a good photo of the Moroccan child:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2538790.ece?Submitted=true